Upright piano



July 31, 1928. 1,679,290

v. BEsslER UPRIGHT PIANQ Filed May 15, 1926 WITNESSES lNVENTOR wezblesier 41W' i ceu BY ATTORNEYS Patented July 31, 1928.

UNITED STATES vE'rAL snssrnn, or BROOKLYN, NEW 'YORK Urine-nr PIANO.

Application filed May 15,

The present invention is concerned with the provision of means for improving not only the volume, but the quality of the tone which is emitted from the casing of an upright piano.

ln pianos of this type as ordinarily constructechthere is no proper escape for the sound waves set up by vibration of the sounding board, and the instruments are consequently generally considered of inferior tone to the .so-called grand or square pianos. In the upright piano, it is also to be noted that the hammers strike the vibrating strings toward the sounding board, instead of away from the same, and that the casing structure is such that the sound waves ano casing with the compartment in which the piano is located, so that better quality as well as a greater volume of tone will be emitted from the casing, and so that a tone incidental to the vibration of the resonantl sounding board may be sustained for a `considerable length of time without becoming muled and without being blurred.

A further object of the invention is to provide a piano of the class noted above, which may be manufactured at no material increase in cost over conventional types of upright p-ianos, a piano which will be of simple, practical construction, of neat and attractive appearance, and' which will be `highly etlicient in use.

Vith the above noted and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, as will be more fully hereinafter set forth and point- -ed out in the claims. The invention may be more fully understood from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of a piano embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation thereof with parts of the casing broken away and in section for clearness.

Fig. 3 is a view in rear elevation of the piano.

1926. Serial No. 109,387.

Fig. 4 is a sectional vplan view on the line el--e of Fig. 2.

With the exception of a. few` minor changes, the general construction of the piano casing may be .substantially conventional, the casing including a clo-sed front 10, and a closed bottom 11. Supported forwardly ofthe casing is the usual frame work 12 mounting a keyboard 13, from which the action is manually controlled. The piano vmay be provided with the usual hinged cover 14C, and at the rear of the casing 10, a sounding board 15 is mounted in a more or less conventional manner.

It is customary to use filler pieces or beams 17 and 18 at thebot-tom and top of the rear portion of the casing, these filler pieces` being connected by relatively heavy spaced vert-ical studs 19, the forward faces of which carry thin slats 2O arranged in diagonal position, and supporting the sounding board.

One of the piano strings has been indicated at 21, and one of the hammers at 22. No attempt has been made to show the action, as this part of the construction forms no part of the present invention, it merely being understood that operation of the proper key strikes the hammer against the string 21 just forwardly of the sounding board 15.

Ordinarily no adequate outlet is provided for the escape of sound waves from the sounding board, and due to the fact that the space immediately forward of the sounding board is in a large measure filled with various moving parts, a su-stained sound wave cannot be had. In other words, even though the sounding board be of highly resonant material, there will soon be interference with the sound waves which it causes when a string is struck andthe tonewill soon become slurred or mufled.

In accordance with the presentinvention 'I use amplifying horns 25 and 26 in the lower and upper filler pieces 15 and 17 respectively. The small ends of these horns terminate within the casing 10 at a point forwardly of the sounding board. The intermediate portions of the horn are disposed between the upper and lower ends of the sounding board, and the top and bottom of the casing, and the large end of the horns preferably terminate flush with the outer faces of the filler pieces 17, 18.

Preferably there are two of the horns 25 and two of the horns 26 provided, these the horns 25 Ypushing the piano too closely against the horns being arranged near opposite ends of the filler pieces 17, 18'.' In addition to the amplifying horns 25, 26, I mount amplifying horns 27 in the forward wall of the casing, said horns having their small ends arranged within the casing and their largerl ends project-ing under the keyboard 13 preferably near opposite ends of the piano.

By virtue of this horn arrangement, little of the tone volume or quality is lost when the sounding board vibrates. ln order that and 26 may not be mutiied by wall of an apartment, one of the filler pieces preferably the Vfiller piece 17, is provided with a rearwardly projecting rail 30 to maintain the rear wall of the piano spaced from the wall of an apartment, and to provide adequate exit for the sound waves through the horns 25 and26.

Various changes and alterations might be vmade in the general form and arrangement of parts described without departing from the invention. Hence l do not wish to limit myself to the details set forth, but shall consider myself at liberty to make such Changes and alterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

l claim:

l. An upright piano casing including a sounding board arranged at the rear portion thereof, and means providing passageways for the sound waves to escape from the space in the interior of the casing forwardly of the sounding board including amplifying horns extending through the back of the casing above the sounding board, and having their inner ends disposed in front of the sounding board.

2. An upright piano casing including a sounding board' arranged at the rear portion thereof, and means providing passageways for the sound'waves to escape from the space in the interior of the casing forwardly of the sounding board including amplifying horns extending through the back of the casing below the sounding` board, and having their inner ends disposed in front of the sounding board.

3. An upright piano casing including a sounding board arranged at the rear portion thereof, and means providing passageways for the sound wavesto escape from the space in the interior of the casing forwardly of the sounding board including amplifying horns extending'through the back of the casing below and above the sounding board, and having their inner ends disposed in front of the sounding board.

a. An upright piano including a casing, filler pieces extending horizontally across the back ofthe casing at the upper Vand lower ends thereof, spaced Vertical studding connecting the filler pieces, means for supporting a sounding boa-rd in spaced relationship to the studding and amplifying horns extending through one of the filler pieces.

5. An upright, piano including a casing, filler pieces extending horizontally across the back of the casing at Athe upper and lower ends thereof, spaced vertical studd-ing connecting the filler pieces, means for supporting a sounding board in spaced relationship to the studding and amplifying horns, extending through the upper' filler piece, the forward ends of said horns beingV disposed forwardly of the sounding board.

6. An upright piano including a casing, filler pieces extending horizontally across the back of the casing at the upper and lower ends thereof, spaced vertical studding connecting the filler pieces, means for supporting a sounding board in spaced relationship to the studding and amplifying'V horns extending through the lower filler-piece, the forward ends 4of said horns being disposed forwardly of the sounding board.

7. An upright piano including a casing, filler pieces extending horizontally across the back of the casing at the upper and lower ends thereof, spaced vertical studding connecting the filler pieces, means for supporting a sounding board in spaced relationship to the studding, and amplifying horns extending through both of the filler pieces, the forward ends of said horns being disposed forwardly of the sounding board.

8. An upright piano including a casing, filler pieces extending horizontally across the baclr of the casing at the upper and lower ends thereof, spaced vertical studding connecting the filler pieces, vmeans for supporting a sounding board in spaced relationship to the studding, and amplifying horns extending through both of the fillerpieces, and terminating flush with the rear faces thereof, the forward ends of said' horns being disposed forwardly of the sounding board.

9. An. upright piano including a casing, filler pieces extending horizontally across the back of the casing at the upper and lower ends thereof, spaced. vertical studding connecting the filler pieces, means for supporting a. sounding board in spaced relationship to the studding, and amplifying horns extending through'both of the filler pieces, one ofthe filler pieces including a rearwardly projecting spacer rail to maintain a space between .the outlet end of the horns and a wall.

VETAL BESSIER. 

